On Wednesday, May 5, the Building Codes Structures Board approved the final amendments to the 2010 Oregon Energy Efficiency Code (OEESC). The division held a rulemaking hearing on the adoption of the new code in March and received public comment on the provisions regarding mass walls. The division addressed the comments and the board's approval of the provision was the last step in the administrative process to adopt the new code.
The 2010 OEESC will take the place of chapter 13 in the Oregon Structural Specialty Code. Based on the 2009 IECC, Oregon amendments significantly strengthened the energy efficiency requirements of the code. The final version of the draft code is available on the BCD website
here.
The code will be effective July 1, but for plans submitted through September 30, it will be up to the builder whether to build to Chapter 13 or the 2010 OEESC. After October 1, the 2010 OEESC will be mandatory. The division is currently working with the ICC on the printed version. Printed copies of the code are expected to be available in July.
As education is a key component of the introduction of any new code, IEC Oregon is gearing up to provide you training courses. We will be sending out the dates and registration forms in the next couple of weeks, so keep a look out for an email from us.